Christiana Rice will be a keynote speaker and presenter at the Church Planting Conference hosted at Bethany Theological Seminary in Richmond, Ind., on May 16-19, 2018. The conference is sponsored by the Church of the Brethren Congregational Life Ministries.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee is meeting at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey this week from June 7-12, focusing on unity, renewal of the WCC strategic plan and financial strategy, the building project, preparations for the 11th Assembly and observance of WCC’s 70th anniversary.

[Anglican Communion News Service] The General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church has voted in favor of allowing gay couples to marry in church. The vote means that the Church’s canon law will be changed – to remove the definition that marriage is between a man and a woman. It means that gay Christians from any Anglican Church can now ask to be married in a Scottish Anglican Church.

[Episcopal News Service] The Scottish Episcopal Church voted June 8 to amend canon law to allow same-sex couples to marry in the church. The vote required a two-thirds margin in each house: bishops, clergy and laity. Clergy wishing to perform same-sex marriages will need to “opt-in,” according to a BBC report.

Presbyterians are generally allergic to the prosperity gospel, the belief among many Christians that God blesses those who bless God. Prosperity gospel is a good idea, but it begins to get tricky when we believe that those who are faithful to God will always be blessed by financial wealth and good health.

As President Trump mulls over rolling back changes in the United States' relationship with Cuba, hundreds of people in the United Church of Christ are advocating a move forward toward normalizing relations between the two countries.

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